this is your a.m. wake-up call. i'm carol costello. let's get started with the specific, credible, but unconfirmed terrorist threat against the united states involving three people, vehicle and bombs and possible targets in new york new york and washington. new york city mayor michael bloomberg says there there will be additional police officers throughout the city, but no one should change their daily routines. leaders in the nation's cappal the telling people to remain calm and vigilant. >> there are people together scrubbing through mounds of data looking for potential leads of individuals where suspicion may arise around them. let's talk with cnn national security contributor fran townsend who joins me live from washington. tell me what you know of these three people. is it car bombs? what are we talking about exactly? >> carol, we've gotten the information in bits and pieces as we often do in the early stages. the threat information they got only in the last 24 to 36 hours have been going through it. they notified congress. the president had been informed early yesterday and kept informed settling. up until now they had gone through their normal routine a large big event like the 9/11 anniversa anniversary. the president had met with his cabinet. they talked about the various national security measures they would take before a big event. there hadn't been up to that time this intelligence. we understand the intelligence comes from overseas. it may, in fact, we're talking to sources -- remember peck stan took into custody atani, a senior al queda leader. it may be the information is related to his capture. >> we've been hearing con fwlikting reports from different networks. first we heard there were three people including one american, some people from pakistan already in this country. we've since determined that's not quite true. you probably don't have the answer to this because they're keeping things under their hats. do investigators know who these people are? >> as you point out, carol, the initial reporting was that there was three people, one being an american citizen and then as the story seemed to develop, we then understood they may have names but they very very common names. our susan candiotti got that report from their sources. not clear. the key here is we also understand these are individuals who entered the united states as recently as last month. and this is an enormous task to try and figure out, even if you had names, to try and identify when and where they exactly came in and even once you do that, carol, then you've got to figure out where they are now. none of this is easy. that's the first priority of investigators at the moment. >> they have plenty of people out there trying to keep us safe. and i guess the old adage works this time, too. if you see anything suspicious, report it. don't hang on to that information. fran town shend, we appreciate -- >> we heard that from commissioner kelly last night. new york has been at the forefront of the "if you see it say it" campaign. that's how they identified the times square attempted bombing. that was his message last night. don't change your rhee tune but law enforcement needs your help. to our viewers, wherever you are, especially in those two cities, call 911 if you see something suspicious. >> fran town shend, thanks so much. president obama put his jobs plan out there asking the congress to pass it asap. the cost? $447 billion paid for with an expanded deficit reduction deal. >> pass this jobs bill and starting tomorrow small businesses will get a tax cut if they hire new workers or if they raise workers wages. pass this jobs bill and all small business owners will also see their payroll taxes cut in half next year. if you have 50 employees making an average salary, that's an $80,000 tax cut. and all businesses will be able to continue writing off the investments they make in 2012. >> the plan includes a payroll tax cut for 98% of businesses, a tax credit for companies that hire unemployed veterans, improvements for about 35,000 public schools, buildings i'm talking about, a tax credit for firms that hire the long-term unemployed. let's get more. americans can refinance their mortgages at the 4% enter et rates now available. republican reaction ran the gamut from we're interested to "no way." we'll talk more about that with tim farley in your political ticker in a few minutes. hundreds of thousands of people in arizona, and mex went to bed without electricity. utility crews have begun restoring power after last night's massive blackout left about 3.5 million people in the dark. take a look at the graphic. each dot represents households without power just in san diego alone. officials aren't sure when everyone will be back on the grid. so you're asking what happened. arizona power says a an employee tripped up a high voltage line near the border and that's what killed off the lights all the way to san diego. >> the initial instance of this looks like an operator error that happened in arizona. that started the series of events. what we'll have to find out through the investigation as we review this is to find out was there any other complicating factors along the way, any other equipment that failed that contributed to the outage as well. >> the number of homes destroyed in that's nor mouse wildfire outside of austin, texas, keep rising. it's wiped out nearly 14 0 homes now and isn't letting um. fire crewing are pouring almost everything they have into protecting the structures that are still standing. president obama signed emergency declarations for new york and pennsylvania after another round of punishing rains. leftovers from tropical storm lee have flooded the susquehanna river, began to crest last night. several communities under water. thousands have had to leave their homes. at least three people have died. >> i stayed up most the night just keeping an eye on things. you think it will be all right. then you start getting butterflies and start wondering. >> it's on the market for sale. we're supposed to have an open house sunday and now this has happened. >> i don't think she'll be having that open house, reynolds. >> looks like it's going to be rough, no question about it. one thing about this morning is most of the rain all fae mains offshore. you'll see the heaviest precipitation forming in the atlantic. the bad news is you have many of the rivers, creeks and lakes swollen. if you look at how much has fallen already, last 48 hours, some places up to six to ten inches. even south into washington, d.c. and into virginia. we have the flood threat that remains in effect for a good part of the northeast. that's one part of the story with the area of low pressure over the great lakes and into the northeast. the rain and clouds will stick around for quite some time. we're keeping a sharp eye on hurricane katia, thankfully not expected to have any direct theft on the united states. meanwhile tropical storm maria looks like it may strengthen. right now winds at 45 mipsz. as we fast forward we see winds going to 65 miles per hour, 75. a category one hurricane forecasted by wednesday. still too early to say if it will have direct affect with united states. tropical storm nate looks like it's pys lgs out. not so fast. the latest computer models say it's going to strengthen to category 2, again making landfall into parts of mexico right along the coast. that's the latest. more weather coming up through out the morning. back to you, carol. >> thank you, reynolds. inventors all over the world are working on ways to prevent another 9/11. a remote controlled airliner is one of those tech advances in the works. more amazing inventions on the other side of the break. first, check out our quote of the day. mr. president, we cannot spend our way to prosperity find out who said this anti the president's jobs plan. that's coming up in 90 seconds. it's nine minutes after the hour. have i got a surprise for you! [ barks ] yeah, it's new beneful healthy fiesta. gotta love the protein for muscles-- whoo-hoo! and omega-rich nutrition for that shiny coat. ever think healthy could taste so good? [ woman announcing ] new beneful healthy fiesta. okay, so who ordered the cereal that can help lower cholesterol and who ordered the yummy cereal? yummy. that's yours. lower cholesterol. lower cholesterol. i'm yummy. lower cholesterol. i got that wrong didn't i? [ male announcer ] want great taste? honey nut cheerios. want whole grain oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios. it's a win win. good? [ crunching, sipping ] be happy. be healthy. can i try yours? it's ten minutes past the hour. this is your a.m. wake-up call. the quote of the day, mr. president, we cannot spend our way to prosperity that was republican presidential candidate rick perry about the jobs plan presented last night by president barack obama. this sunday's anniversary of the 9/11 attacks will lead to our high tech headlines. let's head to hong kong and kristie lu stout. we're always trying to find new ways to protect ourselves after 9/11. the inventors came through. tell us about some of those. >> national geographic recently published a list of six tech advances to defend against terrorism in the skies. the first is remote controlled airlines. boeing has already developed the technology to fly an airliner by remote. boeing says it has no plans to produce the device just yet. another technology is bio monitors, surveillance systems that can analyze facial systems for signs of lying or irregular heartbeats. number three, remote video monitoring. european researchers are developing on board systems to scan facial expressions and look out for suspicious behavior. we have a visual of the next counterterror tool. these are light guns. officials are looking the possibly equip air marshals to dazzle attackers and temporarily blind them. also on the lits, assumer thin flexible body armor, a uniform for marshals and flight crews. lastly, missile disrupters. already available. these devices use infrared radiation to disrupt systems. carol, the fear is out there that airplanes will continue to be targeted. and for that reason, we're seeing this array of technology all developed to defend the skies. back to you. >> i'm dazzled by this light gun. when might that hit the market? >> i don't know quite yet. of course, they also have to look its its viability. being able to bring that on board if it's in use to make sure it won't hurt passengers as well. a number of many different technology involving as terror strategies evolve as well. >> kristie lu stout, thanks so much. reporting from hong kong. president obama is about to hit the road to promote his $447 billion jobs package. a big plan with a big question. can he get anything passed? we'll talk about that in 90 seconds. it's 13 minutes past the hour. e, so me and the boys earned a trip to dc twice as fast! oh hi! we get double miles every time we use our card. and since double miles add up fast... one more chariot please. ...we can bring the whole gang! i cannot tell a lie. he did it. right... it's hard to beat double miles! read my lips -- no new axes! [ male announcer ] get the venture card from capital one, and earn double miles on every purchase, every day. go to capitalone.com. what's in your wallet? so, you're a democrat right? while i took refuge from the pollen that made me sneeze. but with 24-hour zyrtec®, i get prescription strength relief from my worst allergy symptoms. so lily and i are back on the road again. with zyrtec® i can love the air®. it is 15 minutes past the hour. good morning. this is your a.m. wake-up call. now time for your political ticker with tim farley host of "morning briefing" from sirius potus live. >> good morning. >> president obama hits the road to propose his new jobs proposal. his first stop is in virginia. let's go back to the speech last night. we'll play a bit for our audience and then talk about it. let's listen. >> the purpose of the american jobs act is simple, to put more people back to work and more money in the pockets of those who are working. it will create more jobs for construction workers, teachers, veterans and long-term unemployed. it will provide is tax break for companies who hire new workers, and it will cut payroll taxes in half for every working american and every small business. >> so supposedly this plan has job creation in it. it also has tax cuts in it which should please everybody you would think. but the big challenge for the president is, if congress will act on it quickly and if he can get any part of this plan passed. >> yeah. i think you've hit the challenge right there. in the parlance of the sales world the president asked for the order last night, repeatedly saying pass this jobs bill now, pass it now, act now. republicans may be a little bit, shall we say, delaying in this. there's a sense, i do believe, that there has to be some kind of action. it may not be that everything goes fluid. i don't think the president expects that. but i do believe, and given what we heard from the speaker of the house john boehner, what we laerd from eric cantor, the house majority leader yesterday, there is some room for maneuvering. it merits consideration. that was the line from the speaker of the house. when you look at the reaction from a lot of republicans, there was a lot of criticism and even some people said somewhat a total rejection of what the president said. there's a lot of room there. there's breathing room, if you will. i think that speaks to the fact that members of the house and senate have just come back from their districts and finding that people are looking for something to happen. an out right rejection is not something that will play well with the average voter. >> you mentioned some republicans are at least receptive to parts of the president's plan. john boehner said, quote, it's my hope we can work together to end the uncertainty facing families and small businesses and create a better environment for long-term economic growth and private sector job creation. i was reading from an analyst who said written statements are great. but unless politicians are saying it with their mougs, don't believe it. >> there's a certain amount of truth to that. i also do believe that when you read through the statements and the reactions, as i said, you don't hear out right rejection in a lot of cases. one fascinating one, carol, was the quote from scott brown. republican senator from massachusetts up for re-election. he's saying, hey, who doesn't want good roads and bridges. he's looking forward to working with the president. and another said, if spending were the key, we would be out of this economic issue. these problems would be gone. we have a democrat that is more critical and a republican who is more receptive. notice what's missing from a lot of these statements. you'll see there's a possibility of moving forward. maybe that's the optimist in me. i see more here than the typical intransigence than what's been going on in washington. >> it's good you're a glass half full. >> the weekend coming up. why not. >> tim farley, host of "morning briefing" on sirius potus radio. it's been ten years for instance the 9/11 attacks, four months since osama bin laden was killed. we're taking a look at where the terror network stands now as analysts look into a credible unconfirmed threat against the united states. it's 19 past the hour. [ male announcer ] it's a fact: your nutritional needs can go up when you're on the road to recovery. proper nutrition can help you get back on your feet. three out of four doctors recommend the ensure brand for extra nutrition. ensure clinical strength has revigor and thirteen grams of protein to protect, preserve, and promote muscle health. and immune balance to help support your immune system. ensure clinical strength... helping you to bounce back. ensure! nutrition in charge! it's pro-cool technology releases armies of snowmen masseuse, who cuddle up with your soreness and give out polar bear hugs. technology. [ male announcer ] new bengay cold therapy. the same technology used by physical therapists. go to bengay.com for a 5-dollar coupon. fiber one. uh, forgot jack's cereal. [ jack ] what's for breakfast? um... try the number one! [ jack ] yeah, this is pretty good. [ male announcer ] half a day's worth of fiber. fiber one. it is 22 minutes past the hour. this is your a.m. wake-up call. here are three things to put on your radar. fresh off his jobs speech, president obama takes his message to university of richmond. virginia is a key battleground state that obama actually won in 2008. we're down to the quarterfinals in the u.s. opens. john eisner takes on andy murray. after that, andy rad dick versus after fell nad nadal. conrad murray trial resumes today. potential jurors will fill out question flairs to determine if they're qualified to serve. u.s. officials say they have a specific credible but unconfirmed threat involving an al qaeda plot against new york city or washington, d.c. it's reportedly aimed to coincide with the 9/11 anniversary. senior international correspondent nic robertson is tracking the story from kabul, afghanistan. nic, you've been making calls from that side of the borld. what are you hearing this morning? >> reporter: we laerd the initial reports came from the pakistan-afghan tribal border region where there was al qaeda camps inside pakistan. we talked to a very senior ministerial government official today to find out what he knew. he has responsibility for those border areas. he said, look, we don't have anything here at the moment. indeed he said we don't really have good information about what's about to happen in kabul. he said really for us at the moment to know what's going on do know about the threats in washington and new york is a stretch. he is the man in the government here responsible for the border area where these threats are -- certainly the initial intelligence we understand came from, carol. >> i want to ask you so many more questions, but since they really don't know anything, we have heard, there's supposedly an american person involved along with two pakistani people involved. any information you've been able to gather on that snt it would certainly be very typical of the potential tear rof threat coming from this area. the border area in pakistan has al qaeda camps and people have been coming from the united states and from europe as well to train in those camps. they come do fight here in afghanistan, and then you have people like this top al qaeda official who was picked up in pakistan within the past couple of weeks. atani, who has been in charge of al qaeda, of recruiting the foreigners coming in from united states and europe and telling them don't fight in afghanistan, go back to the united states, go back to europe and perpetrate your attacks there. there have been several very documented classes where atani has been directly involved in these sorts of incidents. so far from what we understand from pakistani officials, they cannot link him to this later terror threat warning. however, what has been involved in the past fwits the modus operandi of exactly what we're hearing here, carol. >> nic robertson live from afghanistan this morning. extra security on the streets in new york city and washington, d.c. if you see anything suspicious, authorities say, please tell someone. you'll see plenty of people with guns on the streets of new york and washington, d.c. if you fly a lot, you know the drill, shoes off, liquids out, i.d. and boarding pass in hand. the string of security changes that started in the aftermath of 9/11. a look at how much as changed at the airport. after that horrible day much of the world waited, waited for some reason to smile. >> the late night shows i think conan o'brien, jon stewart, david letterman, "saturday night live," i think these shows helped pave the way. >> how comedians pressed forward says a lot about our culture. we'll have that story just ahead. it's 26 minutes past the hour. and tastes simply delicious. for those of us with lactose intolerance... lactaid® milk. the original 100% lactose-free milk. at exxon and mobil, we engineer smart gasoline that works at the molecular level to help your engine run more smoothly by helping remove deposits and cleaning up intake valves. so when you fill up at an exxon or mobil station, you can rest assured we help your engine run more smoothly while leaving behind cleaner emissions. it's how we make gasoline work harder for you. exxon and mobil. [ female announcer ] improve the health of your skin with aveeno daily moisturizing lotion. the natural oatmeal formula improves skin's health in one day, with significant improvement in 2 weeks. i found a moisturizer for life. [ female announcer ] only from aveeno. good morning to you. happy friday. it is september 9th. this is your a.m. wake-up call. i'm carol costello joining you live this morning from new york. it's about 30 minutes past the hour right now. intelligence officials are looking into a potential al qaeda bomb threat timed to the tenth anniversary of 9/11. authorities say they have specific and credible but unconfirmed information about that possible plot. here is where we stand right now. officials tell us the possible threat is focused on new york city or washington, d.c., and it may include a car or truck bomb. it apparently involves three people, one of them a u.s. citizen. now the mayors of new york and d.c. are giving similar advice. stay calm and stay vigilant. >> the nypd is deploying additional resources around the city and taking other steps to keep our city safe, some of which you may notice and some of which you will not notice. but there is no reason for any of the rest of us to change anything in our daily routines. >> our national correspondent susan candiotti joins us now. susan, you've been on the phone literally all night long. get us up to speed. what have you found out? >> reporter: well, as you stated and summed it up beautifully, this is something that authorities are very much concerned about. but as you said, there are still efforts that are being made even as we speak to try to corroborate this information. in fact, one piece of information i have from a u.s. government official is that the names of the three people that they are working with are, in fact, so common, that that might even make it a bit harder for authorities to track this down. of course they're using every conceivable method to do so. they certainly have various ways to do it including computers to track these things down. so they're, in fact, looking at the possibility of three people, at least one of them american. they might be using a vehicle that's filled with explosives, could be a car bomb. they've also sent out a law enforcement bulletin that is unclassified. cnn only tand a copy of it. generally it says law enforcement authorities around the country really, because you can't be too narrow minded about this, should always be on the lookout and should be on the lookout now in particular to look out for anything that appears to be suspicious including the things you mentioned. as you're driving around certainly new york city as an example or washington as of this day, they have ramped up security that was already ramped up because of the 9/11 anniversary, 10th anniversary coming up on sunday, carol. >> susan, it's like a needle in a hey stack. three guys driving some kind of vehicle, may be loaded with explosives in washington, d.c. or new york. big trafficated places. it sounds impossible. >> reporter: they certainly are concerned enough about this to go public with it. that's why they said they're trying vigorously, authorities are telling us, to track this down. yes, it is difficult. that's why they're advising people to be on alert. if you see something, say something, as they like to put it and to be extra cautious. again, nothing magical about the date of 9/11. they're looking at the possibility of this before that, after that and keeping all those possibilities open. does that make it hard? yes, it does. but that's why our law enforcement authorities here and certainly around the world are trying to track this down, to see whether it is the real deal. >> susan candiotti, many thanks to you, we appreciate it. catching a flight has never been the same since september 11th, 2001. the terror attacks everything, from the way you go through security to what you're allowed to bring on board a question. richard quest looks back upon ten turbulent years for the airline industry. >> reporter: in the two years after 9/11, the aviation industry lost more than $20 billion. airlines laid off workers by the thousands. some airlines like swiss air couldn't survive and went bankrupt. the ballooning security bills are weighing heavy on the industry. last year alone aviation is estimated to have spent $7.4 billion on security. if the airlines felt the financial cost, the traveling public saw dramatic changes. the entire business of flying became an ordeal in itself. >> it's just completely extinguished the joy out of air travel. it used to be that people would look forward to actually the experience of being in an airport. now everybody is thinking, oh, my goodness me, have i got anything sharp? have i got a nail file. >> reporter: 9/11 was just the beginning. there were more restrictions after the shoe bomber attempted to blow up a plane. passengers had to remove their shoes at security. in 2006, a failed plot to blow up transatlantic planes led to new restrictions on liquids and gels at airports. little plastic bag at security became the norm. there's little doubt that air travel today is more secure than it was ten years ago. but that security has come at a terrible price. for the airlines who bear the financial cost and for the passengers who bear the cost of convenience. >> you got that right. but if you hate shuffling through the airport security in your socks, we have a bit of good news. homeland security secretary janet napolitano said the no shoe rule will eventually be phased out because technology is evolving. but restrictions on liquids are staying put for now. after 9/11, no one knew when it was okay to smile or laugh again including the late night comedians. here is how they handled their return to the air waves in the days after the attacks. >> a lot of folks have asked me what are you going to do when you get back, gees, what a terrible thing to have to do. and i don't see it as a burden at all. i see it as a privilege and i see it as a privilege and everyone here does see it that way. >> all we're going to say is tonight we're going to start and try and make this little show which has always been silly and unprofessional and largely inconsequential in the larger world, we're going to try and do one of these tonight and then we'll try tomorrow and then so on and so on. >> the reason i am doing a show and the reason i ambac to work is because of mayor giuliani. very early on after the attack -- and how strange does it sound to invoke that phrase, "after the attack," mayor giuliani encouraged us and implored us to go back to our lives, go on living, continue trying to make new york city the place that it should be. and because of him i'm here tonight. >> live from new york it's saturday night! from neutrogena® naturals. removes 99% of dirt and toxins without dyes, parabens or harsh sulfates. so skin feels pure and healthy. [ female announcer ] from neutrogena® naturals. while i took refuge from the pollen that made me sneeze. but with 24-hour zyrtec®, i get prescription strength relief from my worst allergy symptoms. so lily and i are back on the road again. with zyrtec® i can love the air®. okay, so who ordered the cereal that can help lower cholesterol and who ordered the yummy cereal? yummy. that's yours. lower cholesterol. lower cholesterol. i'm yummy. lower cholesterol. i got that wrong didn't i? [ male announcer ] want great taste? honey nut cheerios. want whole grain oats that can help lower cholesterol? honey nut cheerios. it's a win win. good? [ crunching, sipping ] be happy. be healthy. can i try yours? exclusive to the military. and commitment is not limited to one's military oath. the same set of values that drive our nation's military are the ones we used to build usaa bank. from free checking to credit cards to loans, our commitment to the military, veterans, and their families is without equal. ♪ visit us online to learn what makes our bank so different. usaa. we know what it means to serve. it is 40 minutes past the hour. this is your a.m. wake-up call. let's look at today's "get smafrt" questions. how much will the president's jobs plans cost us? a., $347 billion, b, $447 billion or c, $547 billion? the answer. it is b, $447 billion. that's what president obama says. a strong appeal from the president telling lawmakers to, quote, stop the political circus and actually do something to help the economy. he says his $447 billion package will give a jolt to the economy. >> i am sending this congress a plan that you should pass right away. it's called the american jobs act. there should be nothing controversial about this piece of legislation. everything in here is the kind of proposal that's been supported by both democrats and republicans including many who sit here tonight. and everything in this bill will be paid for, everything. >> sounds good. so let's go to christine romans who is here in new york with me. so christine, if the president's plan is passed as he propose $it, would it create jobs? >> well, there's really no question. economists say if it were passed as he proposes it, and that's the key there, indeed it would create jobs. the liberal economic policy institute has a range of anywhere from 1.6 to 2 trillion jobs. that's the range. others say it would add to gdp likely next year. i'll be honest with you a lot of economicists are shy about coming up with an actual job number as is the white house because the numbers were so far off from the stimulus. there are formulas for how do you create jobs and how much spending creates jobs. but we know the economy has been weaker than we thought, and it's been harder to get a good grip on how, when the money is deployed in the economy, it's creating jobs. david brook in "the new york times" says in this moment of peril, the country needs an insurance policy against a double-dip. he says that's what this would be. it wouldn't be the jolt that the president, as you were saying -- z as the president was saying, it wouldn't be the jolt to the economy, but it would prevent the double-dip. it would be the insurance against that. >> what if republicans said, you know, i like some things in this plan and we'll pick which things we like and maybe those things will pass. so would that be effective? or are you just talking about this would create jobs if the plan is passed only in its entirety? >> it depends on what part. for example, if you look at unemployment benefits insurance, the president talked about a rehab of that entire program. for 40 years it's run basically the same way. things are a lot different. we have people unemployed for a very long time. do we need to put a retraining element on to that? we've never done it before. changing that program, would it make people more employable and respond to reality there is the global system. you look at infrastructure spending, $20 billion of new spending, among that new spending is infrastructure spending. we need to make these improvements anyway. it wouldn't be just throwing money away for job creation. it would be fixing a road and much longer out there would be economic benefits of that, too. look, this is all about using this moment of weakness in the economy to try to do something in the short-term to juice it. the question is will republicans go along for it. >> we'll see. we'll talk much more about this on american morning. thanks, christine. the higher ups at bank of america are talking about slashing 40,000 jobs. those numbers are not final and they could change. that's also according to the "wall street journal." it would be part of the first wave of a restructuring. thousands of other positions could be cut in the coming years. executives will meet again today in north carolina to hammer out final details. if you felt like this summer was especially steamy, it wasn't all in your head. the summer of 2011 is the second hottest on record in the united states according to the government. it has been 75 years since june, july and august were that scorching hot. nearly one in ten americans say they use illegal drugs. that's according to a national drug survey. that's up just a bit from 2009. marijuana is by far the most popular drug with about 7% of americans using it regularly. but methamphetamine use dropped off. only .1% of people say they use it. u.s. officials say they have information that al qaeda might try something around the 9/121 anniversary. we'll talk more about that after a break. first, on this day in history, in 1776 the united states of america got its flame. the continental congress clangd the name from the united colonies. it's 45 minutes past the hour. coffee doesn't have vitamins... unless you want it to. new splenda® essentials™ no calorie sweetener with b vitamins, the first and only one to help support a healthy metabolism. three smart new ways to sweeten. same great taste. new splenda® essentials™. there's another way to minimize litter box odor: purina tidy cats. tidy cats premium line of litters now works harder to help neutralize odors in multiple-cat homes. and our improved formula also helps eliminate dust. so it's easier than ever to keep your house smelling just the way you want it. purina tidy cats. keep your home smelling like home. good morning to you. happy friday. it's september 9th. this is your a.m. wake-up call. i'm carol costello joining you live from new york. it's 48 minutes past the hour. u.s. officials say there's a specific, credible, unconfirmed terrorist threat against the united states. it involves three people, vehicle bombs, possible tarthsz in new york city and washington. new york city mayor michael bloomberg says there would be additional security in the city but shouldn't change anyone's routine. officials are telling people to stay calm and vigilant. >> there are scores of people at this moment at fbi headquarters and a number of dhs components together scrubbing through mounds of data looking for potential leads for individuals that may -- where suspicion may arise around them. pentagon correspondent barbara starr joins us live now. barbara, what can you tell us about these three people and this truck bomb? >> reporter: officials say specific and credible, but not confirmed. what they're really saying is they are very aggressively going after any leads they have, but they don't have a time, date and places on this. they don't know who the people are. they do have intelligence, they say, that the plot is believed to involve three individuals including possibly, possibly at least one u.s. citizen. the intelligence indicates a vehicle laden with explosives, possibly new york, possibly washington, d.c. but one official telling me late last night that not enough is known about the operatives or their plots. still, all of this has led the fbi and department of homeland security to issue a bulletin saying what they know and what they are looking for. it is believed these people may have entered the united states. that is clear, and they might have come to the united states after traveling at least through afghanistan and iran. nobody saying the iranians knew about it. it's an indication of what they believe how much the plot has emanated from the very heartland of al qaeda. carol? >> so i guess my question would be how concerned should people be about this? >> officials in washington and new york are saying go about your daily business, be vigilant. here in washington, d.c., the head of the d.c. metropolitan police department has already said one thing is that unattended vehicles left around key buildings will be towed away. we've seen that for years at airports. so they're looking for any unattended vehicles or anything that looks suspicious. as mayor bloomberg of new york indicated, there's a real feeling that player cans should keep their eyes open, but about their daily business as they pause to remember 9/11 ten years later. >> sadly we're used to that by now. barbara starr live from washington. the number of homes destroyed in the wildfire outside of austin, texas, is rising. fire crews are pouring everything they have into protecting the structures that are still standing. that massive blackout out west has affected about 5 million people in southern california alone. some might have electricity when they wake up. officials aren't sure when everyone will be back on the grid. california's power grid operator is asking everyone conserve power to ease strain on the system. arizona power says an employee tripped up a high voltage line near yuma on the california border and it's killed the lights in parts of arizona, mexico and california. >> the initial instance of this looks like an operator error that happened in arizona. that started the series of events. what we'll have to find out through the investigation as we review this with federal agencies, state agencies, is to find out was there any other complicating factors along the way, any other equipment that failed that contributed do the outage as well. >> president obama has signed emergency declarations for new york and pennsylvania after another round of punishing rains. leftovers from tropical storm lee flooded the susquehanna river. it began to crest last night. several communities are under water. thousands of people have been told to leave their homes and at least three have died. >> i stayed up most of the night just keeping an eye on things. you think, it will be all right. then you start getting little butterflies and started wondering whether or not, you know -- >> it's on the market for sale. we're supposed to have an open house on sunday and now this has happened. >> let's head to atlanta now and meteorologist reynolds wolf. so you know what i'm going to ask you. when is it going to stop? >> that's the million dollar question. i think we'll see it slow down a little bit today. the problem with is we have the rivers, creeks still swollen. thankfully the last couple hours we've seen a bulk of the rainfall actually off the coast. let's go right to the maps so you'll see the precipitation off long island. still residual showers through the keystone state of pennsylvania south warped in washington, d.c. the areas cow see in green in the northeast are places where you have your flood warnings and watches. there are a lot of them. over the next 30 seconds, we'll show you an entirely different flavor. you see the area of low pressure bringing the rainfall to parts of northeast. nothing doing in texas where they're battling the fire. hurricane katia moving out to sea, not expected to affect the u.s. other than bringing a stronger rip current. keep that in mind along the coast. tropical storm maria expected to intensify. right now winds at 40 miles per hour. take a look at what can happen over the next 24 to 48 to 36 hours, even fast forwarding all the way into wednesday. tropical storm nate also expected to intensify surprisingly enough pulling due west and possibly forecasting to go to a category 2 storm with landfall sometime monday morning around 1:00 a.m. with winds of 90. that's a quick snapshot on the forecast. more on the flooding coming to you throughout the morning. google is throwing major muscle into its new focus on local businesses. we'll have details for you in a live report. first, let's take a look at the word of the day. it would be supernova. find out what it means and why you need to know about it right after this short break. it's 54 minutes past the hour. a real person will be there to help you. then you can use geico.com to view photos of the damage, track your claim, print an estimate. you want an english muffin? they literally hand you a toasted muffin with butter and jam. (sigh) whaa. tasty. that's, that's a complete dramatization of course, but you get my point. vo: geico 15 minutes could save you 15% or more on car insurance. just having some chicken noodle. starting my progresso soup for lunch plan, huh. nope, just having some tender chicken and some tasty noodles. let's see... south western vegetables... 60 calories, oh beef pot roast... ...ya' know those jeans look nice. they do? yup. so you were checking me out? yup. [ male announcer ] progresso. 40 soups 100 calories or less. two minutes till the top of the hour. this is your a.m. wake-up call. now back to our word of the day which would be supernova. a supernova is an exploding white dwarf star. okay. you need to know that today because a supernova the size of the earth just exploded within viewing distance of the earth. when i say within distance of the earth, we're actually talking about 21 million light years away. but the rare cosmic explosion was caught in pictures by the pal more observatory in california. it was the closest and brightest supernova seen by the united states, by we here on earth, i should say, in 25 years. it's in the pinwheel galaxy above the big dipper if you want to know. our own supernova joins us live from the nasdaq market